These Ruthless Deeds

by Tarun Shanker

  I finally took a breath. No one looked seriously injured. My own stab wounds had healed quickly and judging by Oliver’s whooping taunts, he was feeling much better. Sebastian was cradling his arm, though, and I stepped forward, thankful that I could heal him today.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly.

  “Where did Mr. Kent go?” Emily was looking around, color high in her cheeks as if she had enjoyed our adventure.

  “He must have followed Lady Atherton.” I hurried out of the room and into a massive gallery. There were five different doors and I didn’t know which to take. Mr. Kent was throwing them open, calling down each in turn.

  “Lady Atherton, have you gone this way?”

  “Yes” was the distant reply at the third door.

  “Oh, splendid, thank you.”

  We followed Mr. Kent down the hall into a moonlit glass conservatory, where Lady Atherton was looking for another exit. She sneered as we entered but didn’t look terribly surprised to see us waiting for her instead of her guards. In fact, she looked as if it didn’t matter one way or another.

  “You reckless child,” she said. “You don’t have any idea what you are doing.”

  “I’m doing what’s right,” I said coolly, and she gave a harsh little laugh.

  “The right thing? Who do you think is responsible for our country’s safety? Strength? Comfort? The only reason you can have this life full of your balls and gowns and suitors is because of the Society.”

  “You think I would want that knowing how others will suffer for it?”

  “Just as foolish as my husband was,” she said, shaking her head.

  I stared at her. “I thought you were following in your husband’s footsteps,” I said.

  She let out a loud “Ha!” “That man had to be told exactly where to step. He received credit for many, many things he should not have.”

  “Well, we knew that,” I mumbled.

  “The man only went into the Home Office with my prodding. All his policies, his promotions, were due to me.” She eyed me coldly. “I thought you were clever at first, Miss Wyndham; I thought perhaps you could be the right wife to my son. Your healing power would ensure a long life for all of us. And a stable Society.”

  “I would never,” I snapped.

  She sighed. “Because you don’t respect the duties required of you. You have vague high-minded ideals about doing what’s right and helping people without an understanding of what you must actually do.”

  “We knew enough to get you,” I replied and turned toward the rest of the group. Damn Mr. Hale. He should have been here by now. “All right. Where should we take her?”

  “You will take me back to the ballroom,” Lady Atherton interrupted. “If you all care about your families.”

  Her calm confidence sent a chill down my spine.

  I kept my voice even. “We do care about our families, but we’ve already handled your bodyguards.”

  “All three of them?” she asked sweetly.

  Mr. Kent didn’t need my prompting. “How many bodyguards are at this ball?” he barked.

  “Three. I was not lying,” she said, pulling a green leaf off the pretty plant next to her and letting it fall to the ground.

  “And what is the remaining bodyguard’s power?”

  “To manipulate bones. And she is currently using that power to hold your loved ones in place in the ballroom until I tell her otherwise.”

  “Then tell her otherwise,” Sebastian said. He looked sick and I wished, for the hundredth time this night, that Mae had not come.

  “I will,” Lady Atherton replied. “When I leave with my son.”

  “Is that true?” Mr. Kent asked.

  “It is.”

  I could feel the stiffness among my friends. Every face, tight with distress, told me the same thing. We didn’t have any other choice. We’d allow her to leave, track her, and catch her later.

  “Fine,” I said dully. “We’ll make the trade. Your freedom for theirs.”

  Chapter 23

  THE BALLROOM LOOKED eerily ordinary.

  When we entered in our torn and somewhat bloody outfits, pointed glances and hushed whispers greeted us, but with a fake laugh from Lady Atherton, the dancing and flirting and gossiping still continued on, a strained attempt to preserve the normalcy.

  “Don’t let on, Miss Wyndham,” she said through bared teeth.

  “Kit,” Mr. Kent muttered.

  I followed his gaze to find his sister sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. She stared straight ahead, her hands folded on her lap, completely immobile.

  “What did you do to her?” Mr. Kent growled.

  “I told my guard to keep her firmly in place,” Lady Atherton said. “They haven’t been harmed.”

  And that was when I noticed my mother in another corner, frozen, sitting in the very same position. Miss Grey was across from her. And Mae was at the far end. Helpless dolls, unnaturally arranged around the room.

  “We brought you here,” I said, feeling the oppressive weight of the heat rising in the ballroom. “Tell your guard to let them go.”

  “Once my son and I are safely away, I will send someone to tell her,” she replied, still smiling.

  I turned to the rest of the group. “Check on them, make sure they are unharmed. Miss Chen, will you see to my mother?”

  Mr. Kent hurried off with Emily to check on Laura; Oliver went to Miss Grey, Sebastian to Mae, and Miss Chen to my mother. As our group approached the captives, Lady Atherton gave a nod to the bodyguard, wherever she was in the crowd. I felt my heart stop for a moment, worried what the nod meant, but then I saw Laura responding to her brother’s questions. Her expression was understandably panicked and her body still wasn’t moving, but it looked like Lady Atherton had been true to her word. They weren’t hurt.

  “If I even suspect you are following me, I will order her to break their necks,” Lady Atherton said gaily, giving another false little laugh. “Is that clear?”

  “It is,” I replied, imagining the twenty different ways I would murder her if she hurt anyone here. I was furious. Furious with myself for never guessing it was her. Furious that we had lost our one clean chance. Furious because everything that could have gone wrong, had.

  “You killed him,” a tight voice said.

  I turned around and immediately felt as though I had been plunged into icy water. It appeared much, much more could still go wrong. For Captain Goode stood behind us, his hand shackled to my sister’s.

  She wasn’t wearing her disguise. This was my Rose, my beautiful sister, the one I had missed and mourned for. The one who knew me better than anything. The beloved, the kind, the perfect sister I’d tear down empires for.

  And she looked deathly pale. I let out a cry when I saw blood seeping through her dress at her waist. She shivered hard and winced.

  “Rose,” I gasped, reaching for her hand to heal her. “What are—what is going on?”

  She shivered at my touch. “Catherine … and Camille and Mr. Hale.…”

  Oh God.

  “What did you do?” I hissed at Captain Goode, cold running through my veins.

  Captain Goode said nothing. He looked over the ballroom, his usually placid expression had been replaced by a distraught, haunted look that altered his features entirely. Gone were the earnest eyes and slightly nervous demeanor. I barely recognized him.

  “What did you do?” I asked louder, not caring who might hear and be shocked at my behavior.

  “You killed my brother,” he repeated, a dull shock threading through the words. His eyes narrowed in on someone across the way. “I want answers. And Mr. Kent will ensure I get them.”

  Around me, I started hearing honest answers winging through the air.

  “May I have the next dance?”

  “Heavens, no.”

  “What would you like to do?”

  “I would like to stick my face in your bosom, madam.”

  “How are you?”
>
  “Nauseated by the sight of you.”

  Captain Goode’s face twisted as the truth filled the room. His power. He didn’t have to touch us. He could alter our levels simply by looking at us. He’d kept it a secret this whole time.

  “Now. You killed my brother,” he said, rounding on me, pulling a little at Rose so she moaned in pain. I sucked in a breath. “Do you deny it?”

  “I do,” I answered.

  “Then how did he die?”

  “Camille suffocated him and Mr. Hale dropped him in the ocean,” I said, the answer coming out against my will. As if Mr. Kent were asking me these questions himself.

  “And you let them?”

  “I did,” I admitted.

  “Could you have saved him?”

  “Yes.”

  “You worked together against him.”

  “We did.”

  “Then you might as well have done the deed yourself,” Captain Goode said.

  “He would have killed Rose. Following her orders!” I said, pointing at Lady Atherton.

  Slowly he turned to her, as if he were just realizing she was there. His lips clenched and he swallowed, looking very sick. “No, no, it’s not her.”

  “It is,” I insisted. “I told you they were lying.”

  “I—it can’t be…” He was shaking his head madly. “You? You are the head of the Society of Aberrations?”

  “Yes,” she replied without hesitation.

  “You have no power,” he said, looking her over. “How can you run the Society without a power?”

  “Just as the other heads have,” she answered, tight-lipped.

  His teeth ground together and Rose yelped as he twisted his wrist, yanking hers with him. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, willing my power to heal her faster. A slight perspiration shone on her forehead.

  “Then why does the Society exist?”

  “To keep our country safe. To keep track of the undesirables like the lot of you and keep them tame.”

  Captain Goode was staring around in bewilderment and he let out a long, guttural moan. “All this time—my God.” He reeled back under the weight of these revelations.

  In desperation, Lady Atherton turned to signal to her remaining guard.

  “That won’t work,” Captain Goode said, fury making him almost vibrate. “I already shut off everyone else’s powers.”

  He wasn’t lying. Around the ballroom, I saw Laura, my mother, and Mae standing, in control of their bodies again. Mae was trying to embrace Sebastian, who held her back with one hand, glancing around fearfully. Oliver’s power was shut off abruptly, trapping him and Miss Grey halfway through their escape through the floor, causing a commotion around them, and Mother was being held up by my father. Both were staring straight at Rose, their faces frozen in fear and awe.

  I turned back to my sister, who was growing whiter by the second. Blood was continuing to spread along her dress. My power wasn’t working, either.

  “Captain Goode, please, turn them back on, just let me heal her—we can work together,” I pleaded desperately. “I’m truly sorry about your brother. I wish it could have been different—”

  “You killed him! And you thought I wouldn’t know?” he shouted. Guests turned and no one seemed quite able to pretend that something fascinating wasn’t happening. “You’re the same as her,” he jerked his head toward Lady Atherton, who was slowly beginning to back away until he fixed her with a fierce stare and she froze. “Look at you people—you’re all the same. Lying. Manipulating. Using others to get what you want.”

  “We just wanted everyone safe, the same as you.” I tried to sound calm. Rational. Tried to choke down the fear. “There was no other way.”

  “You play at altruism, Miss Wyndham, but the truth is that you decided your sister was more important than my brother. What you don’t understand is that you don’t just ‘help people.’ Any choice to help someone, hurts someone else. You want to help Britain? Then take from Egypt. You want to heal someone? Then you leave someone else in pain, waiting. You want to save your sister? Then you kill my brother.”

  He was fairly spitting the words now and I shrank back as he rounded on Lady Atherton.

  “And you. You manipulative, atrocious woman. You used me. You let me think I was in control and you used me.” His voice did not hold pity though. It was pure, unadulterated venom. “I followed your orders even when I did not understand why—and you thought you could control this?”

  With that, he turned his gaze to the ballroom and gestured to Emily Kane, who was clutching Laura in fear, Mr. Kent tense and ready at their side. Shouts and cries started up all over the room. Objects floated up all around us. Jewelry, watches, fans, flowers, champagne glasses, and champagne itself. They all hung in the air like balloons. A strangled cry came from Emily as she floated up. Laura and Mr. Kent tried to grab her, but they rose up, too, unable to keep her grounded.

  I clasped Rose’s hand tightly. “What are you doing?” I growled at Captain Goode. “Please, just give me back my power!”

  Rose tried to murmur something and swayed.

  “Hold on, dearest. Just hold on.” I clutched her to me as Captain Goode ignored me, still scanning the room. His eyes landed on Miss Chen, who was rushing over to Emily around the edge of the room, weaving in and out among the guests. Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed above a group of guests in front of her.

  “No! Run!” Miss Chen yelled.

  And then the room began to break apart. All the beautiful plants my mother had purchased were upturned, glasses shattering, gaslights exploding, tiles bursting as Miss Chen squeezed her eyes shut, throwing her arms over her face to try and control herself. The floor cracked and started to give way below her, but before she fell, Mr. Kent reached out and yanked her up in the air, where he and Laura still floated next to Emily.

  “Please!” I yelled as I saw my father narrowly dodge a flying glass, holding my mother in his arms. Sebastian was in the middle of the room, swirling around Mae as he tried to deflect the many flying objects. Oliver was wrenching himself free, inch by inch, desperately trying to take advantage of the cracked floor.

  “Stop this immediately!” Lady Atherton was spitting the words, her face red. Upon realizing Captain Goode would not listen, she spun around, trying to make her way to her son and the exit.

  The loudest scream of all rang out, and I saw a hole blow open in the wall near Miss Chen. Guests tried to get out of the way, some slamming into walls and other people as the falling debris hit them. “No!” I heard Emily fairly bellow. The whole house began quaking. “Laura!” she screamed as the floor around them rumbled, building to something uncontainable. With Emily pulling him up, and Miss Chen unable to bring him down, Mr. Kent gave me one last, dreadful look across the ballroom. There was a thunderous boom and the four of them blasted out through the hole, falling toward the city streets.

  “Please, please, you do not need to do this!” I said, but Captain Goode was looking at Lady Atherton as she dodged her way across the ballroom in the mayhem. Rose moaned again and I desperately moved my hand to the wound, pushing hard, hating that it made her cry out, but needing the bleeding to stop.

  Captain Goode turned. The air felt sharp and acrid, and I sensed some greater danger to come. He looked down at me, his every word weighted. “You say you want to save people? I’ll restore your power and give you a choice.”

  And then, as though watching through an impenetrable glass, I saw what he meant to do. His hand lifted, pointing straight at Sebastian, inky hair mussed, blood dripping from his cheek where something must have flown and hit him, and his eyes, catching mine, sliding to Captain Goode, registering what was about to happen with a glare of panic and sorrow.

  “No!” My voice mingled with Sebastian’s, a raw, tired sound as Captain Goode raised Sebastian’s deadly power.

  “Your sister’s life for everyone else in this room. She’s injured. She’ll have a quick, easy death. Just let her go and everyone else
will live.”

  Rose whimpered, “Ev.” But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let go of Rose.

  A coughing started, from Mae, and I turned to see her doubled over.

  But I couldn’t let go.

  “You want to help them, Miss Wyndham! You want to do the right thing, you said!” Captain Goode’s voice hit like a whip’s lash.

  Rose began sobbing. “Evelyn, our parents—”

  “Please, please,” I begged Captain Goode. “You don’t have to do this.”

  But he said nothing, just looked at me and gestured at the ballroom, the conductor of this deathly orchestra.

  Rose tried to jerk away, but I couldn’t let go as everyone around Sebastian toppled like statues to the floor, radiating farther out. I couldn’t let go as Mae, lovely, kindhearted, all-seeing Mae, slithered to the floor, as graceful in death as she was in life. I couldn’t let go as Sebastian gave an inhuman howl, trying to find a way out among the bodies and debris. I couldn’t let go as Lady Atherton and her son collapsed in fits of coughing. I couldn’t let go as the Lodges and the Kents fell to the floor, choking, gasping for air. I couldn’t let go as Oliver and Miss Grey slowly slumped over, the stubborn, heroic boy refusing to leave her. I couldn’t let go as my parents stopped moving, so close to us now, their eyes never leaving Rose, never letting go of each other as they fell, panicked and bewildered, expressions that would stay on their faces for eternity.

  “Stop, please, stop.” The words poured from me in a torrent. I kept holding Rose to me. This must be a dream. Surely I hadn’t just seen my own parents die.

  “Let me go, let me go,” Rose was moaning at me, and her voice snapped me to. I would not accept this horror show.

  No. I would heal them and I would fix this. I instinctively unlatched the hidden dagger from the fan hanging at my wrist, and swung at Captain Goode hard. He tried to block my attacks, not expecting there to be a blade in my hand. He flinched back from the startling pain as I slashed at his arms, but he couldn’t retreat far with his hand handcuffed to Rose. I maneuvered behind him as he tried to shield himself with her and fight back, but his injured arm was too useless.